* * *
The guiding room fell silent.
Siwoo was still glaring at Raon, fuming.
Caught off guard by his intense reaction, Raon had reflexively apologized, but beyond that, he had no idea what to do.
Maybe it was because he had lived the arrogant life of a villain for five years, even if it was all an act.
Either way, this situation felt incredibly awkward to him.
“…Siwoo.”
Just as he pushed through the awkwardness and was about to move to continue guiding Siwoo, a beeping sound came from Siwoo’s cold watch.
It was a summons order.
Siwoo glanced down at the screen with sunken eyes, then left the guiding room without a word.
Click.
“Haa…”
Left alone, Raon let out a long sigh.
That was the first time he’d ever seen Siwoo so worked up.
Even when Raon refused to guide him before, he hadn’t gotten that angry.
But now, after finally being properly guided, he had exploded like a firestorm.
Maybe that was to be expected.
Siwoo was never in a position to get angry or argue with him in the first place.
That was the nature of the relationship between Espers and Guides.
But Siwoo had long since resigned himself to being ignored by a disinterested Guide.
Then, suddenly, Raon had flooded him with guiding energy out of nowhere—it probably felt like a new form of torment to him.
Remembering Siwoo’s ice-cold hand, Raon silently looked down at his own palm.
“…No telling when the system will return.”
And when it does, he’ll have to go back to being the villain Han Raon—the one who turns his back on Siwoo.
He had to do something, anything, to restore even a fraction of Siwoo’s condition before that happened.
But if Siwoo kept reacting like that, it would be nearly impossible to guide him.
What should he do?
A deep furrow formed between Raon’s brows as he pondered.
The center was quiet, with most of the Espers out on missions.
It was especially calm now since there hadn’t been any major changes at the gates yet.
Of course, that peace would be shattered about a year from now.
Beep, beep-beep.
“…”
Raon silently looked down at his beeping watch.
A familiar name had appeared on the screen.
Jang Seokhyeon. The Director of the Guide Center.
Letting out a small sigh, Raon headed toward the Director’s office.
Knock knock.
“This is Han Raon.”
“Come in.”
He opened the door at the curt voice.
A cold-looking man greeted him inside.
Jet-black hair slicked back without a single strand out of place, silver-rimmed glasses, black leather gloves—the director looked exactly as Raon remembered.
As soon as he saw him, Raon lowered his head.
“Hello, sir.”
“Spare me the greetings.”
Seokhyeon’s pale face twisted slightly in a frown.
But even that expression felt oddly nostalgic to Raon.
Because this man, a germaphobe who distrusted people, had died exactly one year later when the Black Gate appeared.
For Raon, this was their first meeting again in two years.
“I heard you entered the guiding room with Yoon Siwoo.”
“Ah.”
“Did you actually guide him?”
Seokhyeon eyed him suspiciously as he asked.
Raon shrugged.
“What else is a Guide supposed to do?”
“It’s just unusual behavior from you.”
Seokhyeon removed his glasses and sighed, his annoyance clearly showing.
He wasn’t an S-rank Guide like Raon, but he used to be a dedicated Guide for the same Alpha Team 1.
Unlike Raon, who avoided tough work whenever he could, Seokhyeon was a veteran who had worked on the front lines.
Although his germophobia meant he never went beyond basic contact, his abilities were exceptional—even as an A-rank, he could lower Espers’ contamination levels through radiative guiding alone.
A legendary Guide in his own right, Seokhyeon had risen to the role of Center Director.
Perhaps because of that, he had always hated Raon, who, despite being a fellow Alpha-1 Guide, never properly managed the Espers.
‘Not that Han Raon has any allies here to begin with,’ Raon thought bitterly.
Even he would have hated the selfish Han Raon, after all.
“What are you up to this time? I hope you’re not messing things up and making the Espers’ condition worse.”
Suspicion flared in Seokhyeon’s eyes.
Alpha Team 1 was a critical national asset, made up of Korea’s few S-rank Espers.
No matter how problematic he was, Han Raon couldn’t be removed from his post, simply because so few Guides could handle S-rank Espers.
Even with a low compatibility rate, an S-rank Guide could reduce contamination levels with just minimal contact.
That was the only reason Seokhyeon grudgingly kept Raon around despite his distaste for him.
Even if Raon only ever chased after Dojin, with a single wave of his hand, he could still reduce the contamination levels of the other S-rank Espers in Alpha Team 1—like giving a dying man a sip of water.
With such a shortage of Guides, that alone was enough reason for Han Raon to remain Alpha-1’s exclusive Guide.
“Especially considering Yoon Siwoo is the Esper with the highest compatibility rate with you. You ignored him for years, and now suddenly, why would you do that?”
“…”
The real issue was that no one trusted Han Raon.
Everyone at the center viewed Raon’s uncharacteristic behavior with suspicion, and understandably so.
Raon had relentlessly pursued Dojin while neglecting the other S-rank Espers.
For Seokhyeon, whose job was to maintain Alpha-1’s strength and manage the Red Gate response, Raon’s actions were nothing but a liability.
“As I said, a Guide guiding his assigned Esper isn’t a bad thing, is it? I just did my job.”
“Haa, you really don’t listen, do you.”
Seokhyeon sighed and shook his head, pressing his pale fingers against his deeply furrowed brow.
“I don’t know what scheme you’re plotting now, but I hope I don’t hear any more complaints from the Espers.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Easy for you to say.”
Seokhyeon clicked his tongue, as if he didn’t believe a word of it.
With how often Raon caused trouble, the man probably had to carry antacids with him everywhere.
Raon quietly watched as the director put his glasses back on.
He felt a pang of guilt seeing the man again after so long—but unfortunately, Raon didn’t have much time, either.
The system could reappear at any moment and ruin everything.
That’s why he had to reduce Siwoo’s contamination level as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
Determined, Raon opened his mouth.
“I’ll partner with Yoon Siwoo.”
“Right, just calm down and—what?”
Seokhyeon tilted his head, as if he had misheard.
Raon repeated himself in a calm tone. “I said I’ll pair with Siwoo.”
“You’re going to… what with Yoon Siwoo?”
“Pair.”
“…”
Seokhyeon asked several times, but when Raon gave the same answer each time, the realization finally seemed to dawn on him.
Was it really that shocking?
Raon frowned slightly at Seokhyeon’s dumbfounded expression—one he’d never seen before.
“Didn’t you once say you’d rather jump off the Han River bridge than pair with Yoon Siwoo?”
“…I did.”
Not me—the real Han Raon did.
Raon swallowed those words before they could escape his lips.
No one knew when the system would be restored, so it was best not to say anything that couldn’t be taken back.
Raon merely put on a brazen expression.
“If you form a pair with Esper Yoon Siwoo, you won’t run into Team Leader Seo Dojin as much.”
“Isn’t Guide Lee Hamin practically assigned exclusively to the team leader these days anyway?”
“That’s true, but…”
Seokhyeon still looked skeptical.
Considering Raon had gone out of his way to interfere with Dojin and Hamin, it was only natural that Seokhyeon didn’t take his words at face value.
But Raon didn’t have the luxury of slowly proving he’d had a complete change of heart.
“If you don’t like it, forget it.”
“Wait.”
Seokhyeon might not trust his sudden change of mind, but even so, he wouldn’t want to miss this chance.
By now, Siwoo’s stats must’ve hit rock bottom—Raon had just guided him, and even he had felt how bad it was.
“Let’s draw up a contract. So you can’t back out, even if you change your mind.”
“Go ahead.”
That piece of paper—once he resumed acting as the real Han Raon—would mean nothing anyway.
As the center’s only S-rank Guide, they wouldn’t be able to stop him even if they wanted to.
But that was a problem for later.
For now, pairing up with Siwoo safely was more important. Everything else could wait.
“I’ll inform Esper Yoon Siwoo as well.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Raon bowed slightly to Seokhyeon and exited the director’s office.
Somehow, he had a good feeling that things would go smoothly.
…He was sure they would.
Bang!
“……”
Raon stared blankly at the door that had suddenly flown off its hinges.
* * *
